Scourge of illiteracy

Apropos of the editorial “A right decision, but.... “(November 29), the failure of successive governments on the education front has been too glaring to escape attention or to allow conscientious leaders of public opinion to lull themselves into pacification or complacency.

The Constitution laid down that the state shall provide by 1962 free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years. Even after more than half a century of that statutory intent, amounting to requirement, the objective remains distant.

The reasons advanced to explain the manifest incompetence range from lack of funds, schools and teachers to the vastness of the population of the country. However, the absence of political capability or will, as aptly pointed out by you, is seldom mentioned as a major cause.

If the past track record is any guide, the goal of providing free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 years even beyond the end of the current century will remain a pipe-dream.

There was a time when people at the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder were by and large reluctant to send their children to school for a variety of reasons. All that has changed and there is perceptible awareness even among poor and uneducated parents about the importance of educating their children. And they are even prepared to give their children a better tomorrow.

In sharp contrast, the government is blind to the need of curbing wasteful expenditure at the expense of primary schools without teachers and blackboards.

There has been virtually no change in the attitude of the government towards the objective of attaining universal literacy. The Congress government had fixed 1995 as the deadline for making each and every Indian at least functionally literate, but it had not provided the wherewithal for achieving the target.

Way back in 1966, the Kothari Commission had suggested that at least 6 per cent of the national income should be allotted for education. Over the years only slightly more than 3 per cent was actually made available. With such an allocation, how can the country hope to achieve the desired targets?

This country’s planners must realise that poverty is a factor of illiteracy and the latter must be eradicated to banish the former.

K.M. Vashisht
Mansa

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Judicial accountability

The concern expressed by Mr S. Sahay, through his article, “Appointment & transfer of judges: question of judicial accountability” (Nov 23), is understandable. One cannot help in appreciating his practical approach regarding judicial accountability after the apex judicial body acquired all the powers in its historical verdict of 1993.

A crisis developed only when the issue of appointments made by Mr Punchhi, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, happened to invite wrath of the executive in the course of its implementation with the President of India, who asked the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court on the grey areas in the majority judgement in the second judges case at the instance of the Union Minister of Law. The main question was nothing but whether the Chief Justice of India should or should not consult the other senior judges of the Supreme Court as laid down in the 1993 verdict.

What happened in the past between the judiciary and the executive is part of the drift. A systematic erosion of the judiciary set in motion a chain reaction and a wave of demoralisation during Indira Gandhi’s regime. Even the most active and dynamic judges lost their capacity to take the initiative and consoled themselves with an excessive concern for the supersession of their juniors resulting in their resignation.

Now the executive and the politicians as a class are at the receiving end and want to take the clock back. The moot point is: to what extent the Chief Justice of India is accountable to the two other organs of the government?

UMED SINGH GULIA
Gohana

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Orissa’s problems

I did not know much about Orissa except that it is a state in India, and obviously like other states, is administered by a nexus of politicians and bureaucrats. While during the 52 years after India became independent almost every state has improved its status in terms of standard of living, it is amply apparent that Orissa has not cared to cross the poverty line because of its total lack of concern or interest for the welfare of its unfortunate people.

Their abject poverty cannot be attributed, by any stretch of the imagination, to the devastation caused recently by the super cyclone. No doubt, it was a natural calamity of intense magnitude, but were 52 years not enough for providing link roads to reach the coastal villages, or keeping motor-boats in readiness for saving the drowning people in emergencies, or laying potable water pipes. It is said that there were no tankers for carrying drinking water from the unaffected towns to the thirsty thousands who had to drink contaminated water.

TARACHAND SAHI
Chandigarh